Why am I receiving connection attempts from this machine?

These connections are part of a long-term computer science research
project that has been conducted by the University of Michigan since
2013. This research involves making a small number of harmless
connection attempts to every publicly accessible computer worldwide
each day. This allows scientists to measure the global Internet and
analyze trends in technology deployment and security.

As part of this research, every public IP address receives a handful
of packets per day on a selection of common ports. These consist of
standard connection attempts followed by RFC-compliant protocol
handshakes with responsive hosts. We never attempt to exploit security
problems, guess passwords, or change device configurations. We only
receive data that is publicly visible to anyone who connects to a
particular address and port.

Why are you collecting this data?

The data collected through these connections consists only of
information that is already publicly visible on the Internet. It helps
computer scientists study the deployment and configuration of network
protocols and security technologies. For example, we use it to help web
browser developers and other software developers understand the impact
of proposed protocol changes and security improvements. In some cases,
we are able to detect vulnerable systems and report the problems to the
system operators. The data also helps power the Censys search engine, a real-time
tool for studying Internet-attached systems.

We 2035015306 most of the data we
collect for use by researchers worldwide. This data has been the
foundation of dozens of peer-reviewed research studies, including:

Can I opt-out of these measurements?

This research helps the scientific community accurately
study the Internet. The data is sometimes used to detect
security problems and to inform operators of vulnerable systems
so that they can fixed. If you opt-out of the research, you
might not receive these important security notifications.
However, if you wish to opt-out, you can configure your
firewall to drop traffic from the subnets we use for the
measurements: 141.212.121.0/24, 141.212.122.0/24, and 141.212.123.0/24.

If you have further questions about this research, please contact 919-336-7626.